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Hi, all. At my previous house (which I rent out), the dryer is on a wall shared with the garage (actually the laundry room is carved out of the back corner of the garage). The dryer always vented into the garage -- not great and probably not to code, but it's not on an exterior wall so I guess they thought there were no other options.
When I had that house re-roofed a few months ago, they agreed to re-do the dryer venting as well (venting it out through the attic) -- but they used FLEXIBLE HOSING from the vent in the garage up through the attic. It doesn't work at all and I cannot believe it is to code. I am still trying to get someone else to come fix it. One worker came and suggested still venting through the attic, just using non-flexible hose (or tube or whatever it's called). Would this be to code? (This way there would be only one right-angle -- from the vent opening in the garage, straight up, and hopefully he'd be able to use the attic hole that's already there.)
I thought he could vent from the opening in the garage straight up, then over the door from the laundry room to the garage, then straight out to the outside. That would be a much shorter run than through the attic, although there would be two right-angle bends (from the vent opening up, then to the left across the top of the door). Would THIS be to code?
I can't believe how hard this is to figure out! I can't be the only person with a dryer that's not on an outside wall!
Thanks in advance, and reps to everyone who at least tries to be helpful!
Use no more than 25 ft. of 4-in. duct, and subtract 5 ft. for every 90-degree turn and 2.5 feet for every 45-degree turn. For example, a dryer with a 90-degree elbow at the exhaust port and another at the top of the basement wall can run a maximum of 15 ft. Dryer manufacturers’ recommendations supersede this, so if you have to make a longer run, read the owner’s manual. If possible, position your dryer along an exterior wall to keep the vent as short as possible.
Karen keep in mind dryers can be reconfigured to vent out the side or directly through the floor instead of the back. Absolutely get it changed to smooth pipe but I don't know if that isn't going to help much as far as it working. The flexible pipe tends to collect the lint which is a fire hazard especially on a long run. Your issue is probably to do with the length, if you look in the manual it will tell you the maximum length and bends you can have.
I had looked at that ... unfortunately it doesn't address my situation.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Tom2020
A formula:
I think I've seen that formula before -- it sounds very familiar! This is why I thought it would make more sense to have the vent run up, then across the door and outside. I think that "run" would be about 10-11 feet maximum -- assuming a 7' high and 3' wide door (it's actually not that high or that wide). So this would fit within guidelines for 2 90-degree turns, and it seems to me to make the most sense. I don't like that the vent has to go up and out, but OTOH, in New England a lot of people have washers and dryers in their basement so THEIR vents go up and out.
Quote:
Originally Posted by thecoalman
Karen keep in mind dryers can be reconfigured to vent out the side or directly through the floor instead of the back. Absolutely get it changed to smooth pipe but I don't know if that isn't going to help much as far as it working. The flexible pipe tends to collect the lint which is a fire hazard especially on a long run. Your issue is probably to do with the length, if you look in the manual it will tell you the maximum length and bends you can have.
Coalman, alas, that house has no basement so the pipe can't go through the floor. And I have no idea where the manual is ... the dryer is 10 years old.
Thanks to both of you (especially at this hour!) -- I'll rep you now! (Coalman, I might have to wait a while since I rep'd you very recently, but I promise not to forget! )
We have our dryer venting into our garage, it's been that way since the home was built in '96. There have been no issues and the inspector found no problem with it. But to run it to the roof we would have to have it running up almost 30' or more to get there, not counting cutting another hole in the roof (possible water issues down the road), and possibly needing a booster fan to get it to vent properly. But even then the dryer will probably not be as efficient as it is now.
They do sell those little boxes you fill with water but there is no issue with how it is now and the vent is not blocked. Plus our garage is about 30'x36' with a ceiling that goes from 15' to 25' depending so it's not a cramped space.
We have our dryer venting into our garage, it's been that way since the home was built in '96. There have been no issues and the inspector found no problem with it. But to run it to the roof we would have to have it running up almost 30' or more to get there, not counting cutting another hole in the roof (possible water issues down the road), and possibly needing a booster fan to get it to vent properly. But even then the dryer will probably not be as efficient as it is now.
They do sell those little boxes you fill with water but there is no issue with how it is now and the vent is not blocked. Plus our garage is about 30'x36' with a ceiling that goes from 15' to 25' depending so it's not a cramped space.
I guess the garage venting can work in some situations (like yours), but I am in New England and it really doesn't work here. My rental house uses wood pellets as is main source of heat, and the LAST thing you want with pellets stored in a garage is moist air blowing on them.
One of my tenants does wood-working in the garage, and the moist air is not good for his tools either.
I didn't think you could use that flexible plastic hose any more, per code. But going back and re-reading the OP, you said it was flexible but no mention of plastic. Anyway, do you have an exterior wall in the garage you could go horizontally to? Or even a window in the garage you could finish off with a piece of plywood to fill up the 4" +/- gap you'd have to open the window?
Karen,
To run the smooth pvc pipe under the floor they would jackhammer the floor open, put the pipe in,
then refill with cement and smooth the floor.
That is how they put washers and dryers in new homes today on cement slabs.
Well, they put in the venting when they lay the slab, but that is how you could vent it in
the floor.
The smooth thick pvc pipe will last forever, so you only do it once.
I didn't think you could use that flexible plastic hose any more, per code. But going back and re-reading the OP, you said it was flexible but no mention of plastic.
The flexible hose isn't plastic, but it is useless -- it doesn't vent well, instead water puddles in the bottom (condensation from the dryer) -- we can hear it sloshing around when we pick the hose up. It absolutely doesn't work for this application -- I have no idea why they used it. I could see it maybe working if it were going DOWN but not up.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Okey Dokie
Anyway, do you have an exterior wall in the garage you could go horizontally to? Or even a window in the garage you could finish off with a piece of plywood to fill up the 4" +/- gap you'd have to open the window?
Yes, this is what I'm trying to do. Picture a back corner of the garage -- you have the back wall (which goes to my back yard), then perpendicular to that is the wall shared with the laundry room. On that wall, just a couple of inches in from the interior corner you see the door to the laundry room, then right next to that door you see the dryer vent down near the floor. ALL I want to do is run something from that dryer vent near the floor straight up and then to the left to go over the door and outside. The pipe would look like this, from the floor and up/around the door (NOTE, THE DOTS ARE THE DOOR -- I HAD SPACES BUT THAT DIDN'T WORK AS CITY-DATA IGNORED THEM):
------
........|
........|
........|
........|
........|
........| dryer vent is right here to the right of the door looking at it from the garage side
So the length of the pipe I need would basically be the height of the door plus the width of the door plus a few inches -- even taking 5' off for two 90-degree turns, it's <15' so should be allowed by code AFAIK.
Quote:
Originally Posted by 1AngryTaxPayer
I had to run sold pipe down one wall in the garage and out the font.
This is what I am trying to have done, except running it out the back instead of the front. It seems so simple ...
Quote:
Originally Posted by Butterfly4u
Karen,
To run the smooth pvc pipe under the floor they would jackhammer the floor open, put the pipe in,
then refill with cement and smooth the floor.
That is how they put washers and dryers in new homes today on cement slabs.
Well, they put in the venting when they lay the slab, but that is how you could vent it in
the floor.
The smooth thick pvc pipe will last forever, so you only do it once.
That sounds like a solution, but it also sounds like big bucks and maybe overkill. This is New England, where a lot of dryers are in basements so their venting goes up and out -- exactly what I want this pipe to do. It should be easy unless there is something major I am missing!!
I'll be talking to the contractor hopefully today ... maybe he can explain to me why the over-the-door solution won't work.
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